Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation Awards $1.8
Million To 2 Community Colleges In State

By GRACE E. MERRITT,
The Hartford Courant

June 23, 2009

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and MDC Inc. gave $1.8 million
to Connecticut and two of its community colleges Monday to expand remedial
education programs and improve graduation rates among low-income and
minority students.

The money will allow Housatonic and Norwalk community colleges to build
on innovative programs designed to bring students up to speed quickly,
such as an online math course that allows students to progress at their
own pace and a three-week math refresher course at the start of the
semester.

Currently, about 70 percent of Connecticut's community college students
must take remedial courses in math or English before they can start
taking college-level courses.

These remedial courses typically don't count toward graduation requirements
and can frustrate students, sometimes prompting them to drop out. Only
36 percent of full- and part-time community college students in Connecticut
graduate within six years.

The Gates Foundation said it was intrigued by some of the approaches
Connecticut is taking to address the remedial problem and smooth the
path for students.

Among four new programs at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport,
for example, is a bridging program with area high schools that encourages
students to continue taking math classes in their senior year. High
school juniors take a placement test that shows them where they would
end up in math and English at community college if they enrolled that
day.

Other initiatives include more thorough student advising and tracking,
embedding student tutors in classrooms and promoting study groups.
The idea is to better engage students, many of whom work full time,
with classmates and give them a stronger connection to college, said
Mary Anne Cox, assistant chancellor for Connecticut's community colleges.

"It's really a testament to the state of Connecticut and to Housatonic
and Norwalk community colleges that they received this grant. They have some
of the most promising programs out there," said Marie Groark, a spokeswoman
for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In addition to Connecticut, the Gates Foundation gave grants to four
other states — Florida, Ohio, Texas and Virginia — to expand
their programs and policies and to compare results.

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